


cause people like you are far too few

by thoughiseemtame



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: F/M, Game Spoilers, Minor Violence, Recreational Drug Use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-20
Updated: 2015-11-20
Packaged: 2018-05-02 14:24:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5251535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thoughiseemtame/pseuds/thoughiseemtame
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From a prompt on Tumblr (there are spoilers for Fallout 4 in this story!): </p><p>The events of the Silver Shroud debacle force Hancock to finally face the truth about his feelings for the SS.</p>
            </blockquote>





	cause people like you are far too few

**Author's Note:**

> From this prompt submitted to me on Tumblr: 
> 
> Could you do a Hancock and Sole that takes place after the Silver Shroud? She saves Ken and Hancock was her backup. Hancock was impressed with how well Sole handled herself and the situation and realizes he's in love with her. Continue how you want.
> 
> I hope this is what you had in mind, anon, and that you enjoy! :)

He’d been torn between admiration and amusement when he’d first seen her clad in that ridiculous get-up, a black fedora tilted jauntily over her wavy red hair, and a threadbare trench-coat tied tight around her narrow waist.

Her pale eyes were sparkling with good humor, a tell-tale blush reddening her freckled cheeks as she shifted awkwardly from foot to foot, clearly self-conscious. Choking back a laugh, Hancock had shaken his head at her affectionately before launching into the details of Sinjin’s shady activity, and the locations of his two head goons.

She never failed to surprise her; whether it was returning from the Pickman Gallery with her beloved dog at her heels, covered in blood (only some of which was her own), nonchalantly rattling off the details of what she had faced in that bizarre hellhole, or proving her loyalty and silver tongue by talking Bobbi out of engaging with Farenheit and her crew in the ghoul’s botched attempt to raid his storehouse.

Even his bodyguard had seemed impressed by that, and she was far from easy to please. 

They spent time together, when she was in town, shooting Jet in the State House and talking about everything and nothing, or bonding over drinks in the Third Rail, stumbling out arm in arm at ridiculous hours of the morning. She made him feel alive, more alive than he’d felt in years.

Ever since this odd, fascinating woman had come strolling into Goodneighbour, his life had certainly become more…interesting. It seemed like every time he turned around, she was into something increasingly more dangerous and strange. She was a mystery to him, a puzzle he desperately wanted to solve. 

This Silver Shroud business definitely took the cake, however. He’d barely believed it when Farenheit had given him the report: that there was a vigilante dressed as the old comic book hero taking out the trash across the city, leaving only a calling card and a slew of bodies in their wake. Listening to Kent’s radio broadcasts, he’d been more bemused than concerned; the ghoul was nothing if not earnest and well-meaning, and Hancock had faith that he’d never get involved with anyone too unsavoury. 

Looking back, he shouldn’t have been surprised when she had come strolling into his office following his extended invitation to meet with the Shroud. What else had he expected?

And now she was back, Northy and Kate the latest victims of her indomitable focus, her face strained and full of concern.

“Kent’s missing,” she blurted, wringing her small hands. “Sinjin took him hostage, he wants me to meet him the Milton Hospital or he says he’ll kill him, and I can’t-“

“Whoa there, Red,” he raised a hand, trying to pitch his voice to a low, soothing tone. It wasn’t in his nature to be comforting, but the sight of her distress was hard to swallow. “Slow it down. They took Kent?”

She swallowed and nodded. “I should never have let him put himself in danger like this. I can’t bear the thought of something happening to him, Hancock, I just can’t.”

She looked close to tears, much to the ghoul’s horror. His only option was obvious, and he turned to grab his shotgun from the shelf behind him and shot her a reassuring smile.

“Let’s go get him, then.”

The woman looked surprised, eyes widening before relief crossed her pretty face. “You’re going to come with me? Do you really think that’s a good idea?”

“Of course! Why would it not be?”

“Because you’re the mayor here, the people need you. And I’m sure your skin is worth a lot more than these people than mine.”

Her concern stirred something warm in his guts, and he pushed it down. No time for that right now. “Yeah, well, I ain’t much good to anyone if my aim gets too rusty. I need the exercise anyway.”

She looked about to argue, but stopped herself at the last moment, nodding in agreement instead. “We’d better hurry, then. The longer we wait, the higher the chance that they’ll hurt him.”

“You got it sister. Lead the way.”

\+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 

Hours later, when he was back in his favourite worn old seat in the State House, nursing a small wound where a bullet had grazed his left arm and pleasantly stoned on a wicked combination of Mentats and Jet, he’d run the events of the afternoon over and over in his head, trying to pinpoint the exact moment that clarity had struck him.

They’d arrived at the hospital in a blaze of gunfire, shooting their way through crumbling floor after crumbling floor until they reached the room where Sinjin and his thugs held Kent hostage. Hancock had never seen her fight before. Not for the first time, he had doubts that she’d really been some domestic goddess and high-class lawyer before she’d been frozen. She fought like she had something to prove, teeth bared and eyes wild as she fired well-timed bursts from her assault rifle, using the butt of the gun to smash in someone’s nose or teeth when necessary. 

She was a force of nature, all energy and passion as she raced from cover to cover, the cumbersome trench-coat she was for some reason still wearing hardly slowing her down. His heart had raced, and he highly suspected that it wasn’t just the usual thrill he got from close-quarters combat. 

When Sinjin had held a gun to Kent’s head, taunting the Shroud about blowing her friend’s brains across the steel floors before heading to Goodneighbour to burn the town to the ground, she hadn’t even flinched. It was like a shield had gone up in front of her eyes, an easy smile tugging at the corners of her lips as she bluffed, her poker face pristine.

“You know what would really get to Kent?” she asked, her voice completely steady. “Killing his friend, his hero. Right in front of him.” 

And the fool had bought it, laughing smugly as he shoved Kent out of the way and aimed his rifle straight at the Shroud, gunfire breaking out across the room almost simultaneously.

Somehow, luck was on their side, and they won by the skin of their teeth, Hancock smirking in satisfaction as he pumped a round deep into Sinjin’s skull.

“No one threatens my town and walks away,” he growled, holstering his shotgun as he kicked the man’s lifeless corpse over onto its side.

The woman had run to Kent as soon as the haze of bullets had ceased, dropping to her knees to untie his bounds with shaking fingers. 

“Are you alright?” she demanded, helping him to his feet and scanning his body for obvious signs of injury.

Hancock had watched in awe as the proficient killer with the face of stone melted away instantly, replaced by a deep, almost motherly concern as she pulled out a Stimpak, supporting Kent’s weight as he leaned against her. He joined the two an instant later, weakly cracking a joke about rites of passage. The other ghoul had barely looked his way. He was transfixed by the woman, his hero personified. 

Hancock understood the feeling.

And maybe that had been it, seeing his own admiration for that crazy, reckless, incredible woman reflected on Kent’s face. The moment when the feelings he’d been pushing away for the past three months had become impossible to ignore, had all but grabbed him by the lapels and shook him to his senses.

He was falling for her. There was no denying it anymore. The chances that a woman like that would ever feel the same for him were slim to none, he knew, but…

“Farenheit!” he called, his voice heavy with drugs and slightly slurred. 

The woman appeared around the corner in an instant, frowning. “Everything ok, boss?”

Hancock nodded, a sleepy smile sliding across his lips. “Yeah, everything’s fine. I just…think it’s time for me to step back and take a little trip, that’s all.”


End file.
